


Jump

by Icka M Chif (mischif)



Category: Motorcity
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Ensemble Cast, Execution, Friendship, Gen, Rescue, Secrets, Suicide Attempt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-18
Updated: 2012-08-18
Packaged: 2017-11-16 17:16:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/541909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mischif/pseuds/Icka%20M%20Chif
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i> "Citizens of Deluxe, I have sworn to you to wipe out the existence of the Burners, no matter who and where they might be. Therefore it gives me no pleasure to uphold that promise and be the one... to execute my own daughter." </i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Jump

**Author's Note:**

> Woke up with 'Knights of Cydonia' stuck in my head, and this fell out. It involves a pet headcannon that's in two other WiPs, hopefully it doesn't spoil them too much when they're done.

* * *

  
_No one's gonna take me alive_  
 _The time has come to make things right_  
 _You and I must fight for our rights_  
 _You and I must fight to survive_  
Muse - "Knights Of Cydonia"

* * *

"My own daughter-" Kane roughly shoved Julie forward across the balcony a top KaneCo headquarters, her hands bound behind her back. She stumbled, nearly crashing to her knees in front of the cameras, in front of all of Detroit Deluxe and Motorcity. The hologram displaying her white KaneCo clothing flickered and faded, revealing her colourful Motorcity clothing. She caught her balance, her hair swinging over her shoulder, exposing the flaming patch on the back of her vest. "-A BURNER!"

In the background, she could hear Tooley making noises of astonishment, the guards muttering among themselves. It wasn't well known that Kane had a daughter at all, she was never formally introduced or broadcast on the holo-vids. It was the one thing that made it safe for her to go down to Motorcity and help people without the use of a disguise, there was no way for anyone to connect the rebel driving 9Lives with anyone in Deluxe.

At least, not until a security camera her father happened to have his eye on caught her image, stepping out of her car and being high-fived by Texas. Julie had come back to her father's apartments to walk straight into a trap.

"Citizens of Deluxe, I have sworn to you to wipe out the existence of the Burners, no matter who and where they might be." Kane continued, gesturing expansively to the people trapped in their polished white towers. "Therefore it gives me no pleasure to uphold that promise and be the one... to execute my own daughter."

In the distance, she could hear the scream of an engine, spotting a cloud of dust streaming behind a speck of dark green against the white. Mutt. Mike had made good time to the surface, but he still had most of Deluxe to cover, and they were on the top balcony of KaneCo.

Mike's avatar popped up next to her, her communication systems still working. "Hang on, Jules." Mike urged her. "I'm almost there."

Of course her father would use this as a trap to catch Mike, his hatred for the leader of the Burners and all of Motorcity was completely excessive. She'd been wondering about the balcony, no doubt to give the appearance that the Burners _might_ be able to save her.

Not on her watch.

"Sorry, Mike." She whispered, twisting her head to pin the communications device on her vest collar between her chin and shoulder, turning it off.

"Looks like here comes the cavalry." Her father gloated, motioning off in the distance, and the holo-vid screens across the city flickered to show Mutt tearing across the streets. "Coming to rescue this **traitor** of a Burner?" He snarled, backhanding her face, sending her stumbling back against the balcony's edge.

Julie took a deep breath, feeling the edge of the wall against her back as she lifted her head. "Citizens of _DETROIT_." She proclaimed, as loud as she could. Some of the screens around the city flickered, the camera tech zooming in on what was her final moments. " **This isn't how Deluxe is supposed to be!** "

She squared her jaw, looking her father right in the eye as he held his hand out for the gun Tooley was holding. "And I would rather die free as a Burner, than live under Kane's twisted control." Julie declared. "Live fast, live free, my People of Detroit."

With that, she threw herself backwards over the edge of the balcony.

For a moment, she had the brief fear that he would have anticipated this, set up some sort of safety net, but there was no impact, nothing stopping her decent. Just the noise of the air as she fell, hair streaming past her face.

Her final act, one of defiance. Continuing the pattern of her life. She was pretty pleased with that.

The only regret she had was for her fellow Burners, that they didn't take her death to hard. That they knew how much she loved them.

The last thing she saw as the wind whipped the breath from her lungs was the clear bright blue sky above her.

She always loved the wind.

* * *

The first thing she saw as she opened her eyes was a clear bright blue. For a moment, she thought she was still falling, until her ribs screamed in pain at her.

"Hold still!" Chuck's worried voice cracked in her ear. "Pretty sure you're suffering from some pretty bad internal injuries, it was kinda rough when we grabbed ya."

"What?" She gasped, then groaned in pain. Her entire body hurt. Her shoulders and one leg throbbed in pain, muting her ribs to a serious ache.

"Dutch, what's our ETA to the garage?" Chuck asked, his large hands working at the bindings holding her arms fast. They clicked, coming free and Chuck removed them as gently as he could in the confined space of the car they were in. She was sitting sideways in his lap, leaning against his chest, the blue fabric of his shirt under her head.

"Five minutes, tops." Dutch reported. She glanced around, realising she was inside 9Lives, Dutch's long frame curled up in her bright fuzzy pink seat, one knee nearly folded up to his chest. "Just hold tight there, Julie-Girl."

She made a noise of confusion as Chuck rubbed her wrists and hands, bringing circulation back to them.

"I kept tabs on you when you're in Deluxe via the security systems." Chuck explained, easing one of her arms around to the front. She hissed in pain, the strained muscles not liking the movement. "Being a Burner and living in Deluxe is dangerous as it is, but being Kane's daughter on top of it? That's like, _ridiculously_ risky. So when your security clearance was suddenly locked down as soon as you got to your apartment, I figured something was up."

"He grabbed me, and we rigged up the holograms on 9Lives to turn her temporarily invisible." Dutch picked up the thread of narration. "Once that was done, I drove crazy fast while he figured out what vector and angle we needed to grab you at without snapping your neck."

"You can't just suddenly _stop_ someone going 120 miles per hour in freefall." Chuck waved a hand around, massaging her other arm. "We needed to match your speed and change the angle of decent to slow you down safely. There were... some complications." He said apologetically.

Hence her feeling like she had just gone nine rounds with a Shock-Bot and uncertain if she won or not.

"So while he was working on hauling you into the car, I dropped the portable holo-projector we rigged up at the Duke's place, making it look like you're still fallin'." Dutch gestured over his shoulder. "Roth's driving Whiptail right now, he's already destroyed the remains of the projector, hiding the evidence. Everyone thinks you're dead, including dear old Dad."

Julie's breath caught in her throat. She was never going to be able to return to Deluxe again. See the blue sky, feel the sun on her face. Never see Claire again.

For all its faults, she did love her city. Both of them, both Deluxe and Motorcity.

"The Deluxians have started rioting." Chuck commented, moving her other arm in front of her, changing the angle and easing the ache in her shoulder. "Banding together under your name. Congratulations, you're a martyr."

"Texas is reporting that the Motorcity Gangs are joining them topside." Dutch added. "It's everyone, you've united Deluxe and Motorcity into one Detroit. People want to know how Deluxe was supposed to be, before Kane took over." His parents and brother were a part of that, she remembered.

Chuck flicked his fingers, bringing up security feeds. "We've got Amazons, Mama's Boys and Weekend Warriors going up against the Kane Bots. Duke's tearing apart the Incinerator, and Kaia's Terras are attacking the toxic waste plant. It's pretty much a mad free for all up there."

Julie watched the fight, Motorcity citizens attacking with weapons and guns, Deluxians with impromptu weapons, a few of them just crashing bots under their pods, using them as weapons. One of the towers had bright writing painted from the inside, 'Down with Kane', 'Bring Back Deluxe', a few random peace symbols and hearts.

Chuck was right, it was a mad free for all. The People of Motorcity were faring better than the Deluxians, but she was pleased to see that they even the Deluxians who weren't fighting were still pulling people to the safety of the pods, several attempting to bandage wounded, acting as battle field medics.

"And with Roth in Whiptail, as far as anyone knows, the Burner vechicles are all accounted for." Dutch added. "No one's ever seen Mike drive without Chuck, so they're not even going to even think to be looking for us or you."

"Mikey!" Chuck's voice broke in alarm. "Oh my gosh! Did we tell Mike that Julie's okay?"

"Uhh..."

Julie couldn't help the laugh that bubbled out of her throat. "You guys..." She buried her head against Chuck's chest as the pain flared up in her ribs, leaving her feeling weak and limp. "Worst. Rescue. Ever."

"Hey!" Dutch protested. "We may not be as flash as Mike, but we get the job done."

She just giggled as Chuck pulled Mike up on the communicator, telling him that they'd rescued Julie, and not do anything really crazy, especially since Chuck wasn't there to get him out of it.

Julie felt more than saw the familiar drive into the Burner Garage, Dutch pulling 9Lives to a stop, Chuck undoing his seatbelt from under her. Dutch ran around the car, opening the door, and picking her up from Chuck's lap. He was even more paranoid than Chuck had been, cradling her like she was made of spun glass, about to break at any second.

Her boys. She always felt safe around them.

"Jacob's waiting." Dutch said, walking quickly but carefully inside, trying not to jostle her. Pride made her want to protest that she could walk just fine, except the sharp pain in her leg countered this argument. It'd been a while since she'd been badly hurt and she'd forgotten how draining it was.

Chuck followed, scolding Mike to finish taking care of business up there first before coming back down, they could take care of Julie. He finally hung up, making an annoyed sound. "He sends his love." Chuck informed her, which was completely not what Mike had said, although possibly what their fearless leader had meant.

"Got it." She acknowledged, wanting nothing more than to fall asleep for a bit. Not yet, Jacob had to check her out. Soon.

Dutch set her down on the counter of Jacob's kitchen, putting a discarded balled up shirt under her head. It smelled like Texas after he'd forgotten to take a shower for a while, which was oddly comforting. It'd be gross later, but for for the moment it felt like the other member of the team was there with her.

"Alright missy. Let's see what you've done to yourself here." Jacob said, pulling out an old black bag and setting it on the counter. Dutch and Chuck quickly went over the points of the rescue as Jacob pulled out an antique stethoscope and put it in his ears.

Jacob poked and prodded her with quiet competence. He wasn't a medical doctor, machines were his area of specialty, but he knew enough to get them by. He finally announced that it seemed like she had cracked her ribs and badly sprained her knee, as well as bruising herself to hell and gone, applying cold compresses to the swelling areas. She'd be fine with a bit of bedrest.

Dutch and Chuck were obviously relieved, Chuck with his screens open, overseeing the fight up in Deluxe, acting as a remote set of eyes and ears, feeding people information. Not just Mike, but the Amazons and Duke as well. anyone he had a comm number for. Rayon had joined the fight as well. It looked like Kane's forces were losing, word spreading quickly of the rebellion, the people Kane had imprisoned in the factories sabotaging them.

Even if they didn't over throw Kane today, Deluxe was never going to be the same.

It was going to take ages to rebuild it again. She had to heal fast if she wanted to be a part of that.

Dutch picked her up again, Chuck following as Jacob packed up his supplies. They took her to her rooms, Dutch laying her on the bed as Chuck handed her some painkillers and anti-inflammatories. She sleepily took them, ready to fall asleep.

She did have one niggling though however. "Chuck?" She inquired before he could leave, Dutch stretching out on the bed next to her, obviously watching over her. "How long have you known who my father was?"

"Since the beginning." He shrugged, brushing his hair out of his eyes for a moment to look at her, his expression guarded. "Didn't tell anyone though."

"But you watched, just in case." She murmured, understanding his paranoia. Out of all the Burners, she and Chuck were the least close, Chuck always kept a wary distance between them, no matter how friendly they got.

"Partly for your safety too. But yeah." He agreed, his mouth twisting into a humourless smile. "If push came to shove, I really wasn't sure which way you'd jump."

Julie smirked back, allowing the pain pills and sleep to finally pull her under.

"You do now."

-fin-


End file.
